Fort Hays State University's M.B.A. program abroad has landed a spot in MBAprograms.org's article "10 MBA Programs for Studying Abroad in China" by Joe Taylor Jr.

The article lists 10 programs within the United States that allow fellowships to China, along with brief descriptions of the programs themselves. Schools are introduced in the article as "10 of today's compelling global MBA programs that can help students learn to solve problems and build connections, reaching beyond cultural and political boundaries."

Among schools such as Vanderbilt, the University of Southern California and Northwestern University, FHSU's M.B.A. program, says Taylor, "offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in Chinese culture and build networks of influence during their graduate school career."

FHSU's program consists of a select group of students who can complete one year in Hays followed by a graduate teaching assistantship in China the next year. Afton Krien, a graduate student who traveled to China through the program in fall 2010, said she gained understanding of a culture "very different from ours."

"The only way you will ever begin to truly understand another culture is by living it, and although we were almost always around other Westerners and had some of the amenities that we do in the U.S., it is still a different world," she said.

Grant Huck served as a GTA in China the spring and fall of 2010 and again in spring 2011. The partnership and travel opportunity sparked his interest in FHSU's M.B.A. program.

"I knew this chance wouldn't present itself anywhere else," said Huck. "To be a part of a structured M.B.A. program that allowed me the chance to earn my M.B.A. while having the professional experience of teaching our undergraduate coursework was something I would have regretted had I passed it over."

Since the program's initiation in 2008, approximately 30 M.B.A. students from FHSU have traveled to China as GTAs. Concentrations for the M.B.A. that can be fulfilled in China are finance, healthcare management, sports management, human resources management, information assurance, international business, leadership studies, management information systems, marketing, tourism and hospitality management, or the general M.B.A.

"The FHSU China M.B.A. Fellowship is a unique opportunity for students and is drawing national attention as well as some very talented students," said Dr. Mark Bannister, dean of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship. "It provides an excellent opportunity for a student to gain business and cultural perspective in China, which is not only one of world's fastest changing countries, it is also one of America's largest trading partners."
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